R.G. Barry sticks with its plan for acquisitions

Tim Feran, The Columbus Dispatch

Thursday

Oct 31, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 31, 2013 at 5:20 PM

R.G. Barry is moving ahead with its plans to expand through acquisition, even as it considers an offer to be bought out, officials at the Pickerington-based company said during the annual shareholders meeting yesterday.

October 31, 2013

R.G. Barry is moving ahead with its plans to expand through acquisition, even as it considers an offer to be bought out, officials at the Pickerington-based company said during the annual shareholders meeting yesterday.

As in the past, the company wasn't talking about the offer by Mill Road Capital, a private-investment firm in Greenwich, Conn. A committee has been formed to evaluate the offer, and the company won't comment until it has completed its work, said Gordon Zacks, board chairman.

As it stands, the company wants to make "at least one acquisition a year," said Greg Tunney, president and CEO. "Everything we've done the past few years has set us up for becoming a multidivision company."

R.G. Barry is the company behind Dearfoams slippers. It began broadening its reach in 2011 when it bought Baggallini handbags and Foot Petals insoles within months of each other.

Since those acquisitions, however, R.G. Barry has moved slowly in considering its next purchase.

Tunney said that the acquisitions market has become "frothy," and that the addition of a full-time executive specifically charged with mergers and acquisitions - Gary L. Sandefur - will help to complete some deals in the next few years.

"We're finally seeing signs," Tunney said. "We will pounce on them when the time is right. But right now, we're still in the process."

The company also is making long-term investments in expanding its business in areas including online commerce, international markets and independent boutiques.

Tunney said he will visit Japan next week, where "the shops we have there look fabulous."

"We know we have brands that relate to the rest of the world," he said. "We really have to maximize that."

Both e-commerce and the boutiques are important because mid-tier department-store chains that R.G. Barry has counted on for sales have been dwindling, Tunney said.

"Retail is changing faster than it ever has," he said. Department stores are "yesterday's business."